Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con) [V]: My noble friend’s idea of an
underground magnetic railway between northern cities certainly has
a strong attraction, especially following Elon Musk’s proposal for
1,000 mph trains in the United States, and especially coming from a
former deputy chair of Transport for London. However, as Transport
for the North has said, our aims in the north should be to improve
the frequency, capacity, speed and resilience of our transport
system. Can my noble friend...Request free trial
(Con) [V]: My noble friend’s
idea of an underground magnetic railway between northern cities
certainly has a strong attraction, especially following
Elon Musk’s proposal for 1,000 mph trains in the
United States, and especially coming from a former deputy chair of
Transport for London. However, as Transport for the North has said,
our aims in the north should be to improve the frequency, capacity,
speed and resilience of our transport system. Can my noble friend
go a little further in telling us, in a realistic way, how the
Government intend to facilitate those aims in the near
future?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Transport ()
(Con): The Government are working extremely hard on
setting out plans as to how we will improve connectivity in the
north. As I mentioned previously, the integrated rail plan will be
published soon and will bring together the benefits of not just
High Speed 2 but Northern Powerhouse Rail and other very
significant projects across the north. Of course, our investment in
traditional rail and upgrading and improving our current lines also
continues...
